Pay deep respect to doyen literati

In accord with a maxim which goes: “Only when literature improves will the nationals have to enjoy higher integrity”, literature plays a key role in the daily life of human beings. Literature is the lifeblood of nationality. The disappearance of literature will reflect the lineage of humans.
Fiction and non-fiction will contribute to the literacy sector of the nation. The non-fiction brings cultural customs and traditions of the nation and the nationals, economic measures, and progress of the nation. Meanwhile, fiction expresses the nature of human beings and the dos and don’ts of society. Literature contributes much to the revitalization of national spirit, preservation of national culture, forging of national unity, and enhancement of morality.
Hence, respect is paid to doyen literati who have been creating fiction and non-fiction works throughout their lives. In so doing, the literary workers paid respect to doyen literati eight times from 1980 to 1988, literary and periodicals organizations 18 times from 1994 to 2011 and the writers association eight times from 2012 to 2019, totalling 34.
During the period of the outbreak of Covid-19, the ceremony to pay respect to 247 doyen literati could not be held but the 35th respect-paying ceremony to doyen literati took place in 2022. During the period, 95 doyen literati passed away. The age of the doyen literati to attend the respect-paying ceremony is set at more than 80 years old.
The first ceremony of respect-paying occasion held in Yangon Region in 1980 was attended by 10 doyen literati. In the 34th ceremony which was inclusive of those from the whole nation in 2019, attendees paid respect to 276 doyen literati.
Every citizen is responsible for the improvement of Myanmar’s literature standard. Nobody can stay away from literature in the knowledge age. They all have to study the advancement of literature in successive eras till the current literary affairs if necessary. In fact, although political and governing systems have been changing one after another in successive eras, the literary arts should not be changed against the nature of Myanmar but the customs and culture of the nation and historical heritages can be observed in the literary works created by doyen literati.
In truth, paying respect to the doyen literati is a fine tradition of the Myanmar literary arena as part of honouring the attributes of those literati. So, new generation people of all strata and those in the literary arena need to give a helping hand and pay respect to honourable doyen literati year after year.